Braised Chinese mushroom is a traditional Chinese cuisine especially for Chinese New Year. Also, this is my family's authentic Chinese braised mushrooms recipe. Hope you enjoy this soft, tender and juicy instant pot braised Chinese shiitake mushrooms recipe with oyster sauce.
Like vegetable dishes? Check out these gai lan, baby bok choy stir fry, Chinese spinach amaranth, garlic yu choy sum, water spinach stir fry, crispy teriyaki tofu and kimchi tofu soup recipes.
What is braised Chinese Mushroom?
Slowly cook dried and soaked Chinese shiitake mushrooms with oyster sauce and serve with vegetables. A classic Cantonese style braised Chinese mushrooms dish often served with lettuce. However, some like to serve with bok choy or broccoli.
What is Chinese shiitake mushroom?
Chinese mushrooms originated from China over 1000 years ago. There are different types of Chinese mushrooms such as patterned, thick and thin mushrooms. If it snows during harvesting, the surface of mushrooms will crack and create different patterns.
On the other hand, dried Chinese shiitake mushrooms have a pleasant fragrance that fresh mushrooms do not have. This is because when drying mushrooms, chemical reactions with mushroom yeasts release scent. Besides, dried shiitake mushrooms have rich protein, some health and medicine benefits such as preventing colds, cancer and lower cholesterol.
How to cook Chinese shiitake mushrooms?
Shiitake mushrooms are great for any cooking method. However, the best way to cook dried Chinese mushrooms is to braise them because it absorbs the sauce and the texture is very tender. For example, braised Chinese mushroom chicken is one of the common Chinese dishes.
When do you eat braised Chinese mushrooms?
Braised Chinese mushroom is a traditional Chinese cuisine, especially during Chinese New Year or special banquets like traditional weddings or other events. I remembered my grandmother made this dish during Chinese New Year dinner when we visited them.
What are the ingredients for braised Chinese mushrooms?
The ingredients are dried Chinese shiitake mushrooms, lettuce, ginger, garlic, salt, brown sugar, oil, oyster sauce and water. But, some people like to add dried mandarin peel to braise with the mushrooms.
Cooking tips for how to braise Chinese mushrooms:
- Choosing good quality (thicker and have fragrance) dried Chinese mushrooms is important for a tasty braised mushroom dish.
- Before cooking the mushrooms, they need to be washed and soaked in water. Normally, it takes about 2-5 hours until the mushrooms are soft.
- Do not soak the mushrooms too long, neither use too hot nor too cold water to soak them because it will lose its fragrance.
- The best is to soak mushrooms in room temperature water.
- I don’t suggest using the soaked mushroom water to cook because it may have sand or bugs.
- Remember to squeeze the mushrooms to remove excess water.
- Classic Cantonese style braised Chinese mushrooms dish often served with lettuce. Thus, remember don't over boil lettuce, just put them in boiling water and quickly put them on a plate.
FAQS:
First wash and rinse the mushrooms. Then, soak them in tap water for 2-5 hours before cooking. It depends on the size and thickness of the mushrooms. Also, do not use too hot or too cold water to soak them because it will lose its fragrance.
Some people like to use the soaked mushroom water to cook. However, I don’t suggest using the soaked mushroom water to cook because it may have sand or bugs.
Instructions for how to make instant pot braised Chinese mushrooms:
Preparation:
1. Put 12 medium-large sized dried Chinese shiitake mushrooms into the bowl.
2. Wash and soak the dried Chinese shiitake mushrooms for 2-5 hours until it's soft. (Pour 5 cups of water.)
3. After soaking the mushrooms, drain the water and squeeze excess water.
Cooking:
4. Plug in and turn on the instant pot. Then, press the sauté button, pour 1 teaspoon of vegetable oil, 4 slices of ginger and 4 cloves of garlic. After that, stir fry a little bit.
5. After that, add the soaked mushrooms. (Remember to squeeze the mushrooms to remove excess water.) Next, add 4 tablespoons of oyster sauce, ⅛ teaspoon of salt, 1 tablespoon of brown sugar, 1 cup of water and mix it well. Close the lid and vent, push the manual button to adjust time 20 minutes at high pressure and naturally release the pressure.
6. While waiting for the mushrooms, boil 6 cups of water in a pot. Then, add ⅛ teaspoon of salt and 1 teaspoon of vegetable oil into the water.
7. Wash and cut the lettuce into half.
8. Until the water is boiling, put the lettuce into the boiling water. Make sure the lettuce is completely immersed into the water, then remove it quickly. (Remember don't over cook lettuce.)
9. The following step, put the cooked lettuce on a plate.
10. When the braised mushrooms are ready, put the mushrooms over the lettuce and ready to serve.
Enjoy this instant pot braised Chinese mushroom recipe! Also, check out these orange chicken, beef stew , dim sum siu mai, hairy gourd vermicelli, and Chinese eggplant & pork recipes.
You May Also Like These Recipes:
- BEEF AND BROCCOLI (西蘭花牛肉)
- GARLIC CHILI SHRIMP
- MUSHROOM CHICKEN
- STEAMED PORK SPARERIBS WITH BLACK BEAN SAUCE (豉汁蒸排骨）
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Braised Chinese Mushrooms
Video
Ingredients
- 12 Dried Chinese mushrooms (Medium-large sized)
- 1 head Lettuce Small
- 4 slices Ginger
- 4 cloves Garlic
- 1 teaspoon Vegetable oil
Sauce:
- 4 tablespoons Oyster sauce
- 1 tablespoon Brown sugar
- ⅛ teaspoon Salt
- 1 cup Water
For boiling the lettuce:
- 1 teaspoon Vegetable oil
- ⅛ teaspoon Salt
Instructions
- Put 12 medium-large sized dried Chinese shiitake mushrooms into the bowl.
- Wash and soak the dried Chinese shiitake mushrooms for 2-5 hours until it's soft. (Pour 5 cups of water.)
- After soaking the mushrooms, drain the water and squeeze excess water.
- Plug in and turn on the instant pot. Then, press the sauté button, pour 1 teaspoon of vegetable oil, 4 slices of ginger and 4 cloves of garlic. After that, stir fry a little bit.
- After that, add the soaked mushrooms. (Remember to squeeze the mushrooms to remove excess water.) Next, add 4 tablespoons of oyster sauce, ⅛ teaspoon of salt, 1 tablespoon of brown sugar, 1 cup of water and mix it well. Close the lid and vent, push the manual button to adjust time 20 minutes at high pressure and naturally release the pressure.
- While waiting the mushrooms, boil 6 cups of water in a pot. Then, add ⅛ teaspoon of salt and 1 teaspoon of vegetable oil into the water.
- Wash and cut the lettuce into half.
- Until the water is boiling, put the lettuce into the boiling water. Make sure the lettuce is completely immersed into the water, then remove it quickly. (Remember don't over cook lettuce.)
- The following step, put the cooked lettuce on a plate.
- When the braised mushrooms are ready, put the mushrooms over the lettuce and ready to serve.
Notes
Cooking tips for how to braise Chinese mushrooms:
- Choosing good quality (thicker and have fragrance) dried Chinese mushrooms is important for a tasty braised mushroom dish.
- Before cooking the mushrooms, they need to be washed and soaked in water. Normally, it takes about 2-5 hours until the mushrooms are soft.
- Do not soak the mushrooms too long, neither use too hot nor too cold water to soak them because it will lose its fragrance.
- The best is to soak mushrooms in room temperature water.
- I don’t suggest using the soaked mushroom water to cook because it may have sand or bugs.
- Remember to squeeze the mushrooms to remove excess water.
- Classic Cantonese style braised Chinese mushrooms dish often served with lettuce. Thus, remember don't over boil lettuce, just put them in boiling water and quickly put them on a plate.
Lisa says
I just bought a bag of fresh shiitake mushrooms. How can I cook these the same way? Just cook them less time?
Tracy O. says
Fresh shiitake mushrooms will be different. Yes, you can try to cook it in less time. I will try to use the top stove method because I haven't tried to use fresh mushrooms for this recipe.
Philip Hy says
Great recipe. When you put the mushrooms over the lettuce, do you also add all the liquid? Or just pick our mushrooms, put on lettuce, and spoon a bit of the sauce from the Instant pot over everything? Also, how would you cook the mushrooms if you don't have an instant pot?
Tracy O. says
Yes, I put some sauce over the mushrooms before serving. If you don’t have an instant pot. You can cook them over the stove. You may need to add more water and adjust the taste. Then, use a small fire to braise it for 45-60 minutes. I hope it helps! Thank you for your questions.